Live Play Data

Ancient Tomb

Land · Ultimate Masters (UMA)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

583

Decks Running

337

Median Cast Turn

3.0

Drawn → Played

79%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

79% of drawn Ancient Tombs are played before the game ends, and 89% of those copies stay on the battlefield, making it one of the stickiest lands tracked on Playgroup Live.

Ancient Tomb is in 7% of multiplayer Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live, appearing in 337 of 4738 distinct decks that have played a tracked game. That figure reflects a colorless land with a real cost attached: 2 life per activation keeps it out of life-total-sensitive strategies.

When a copy does reach a player's hand, 79% of those copies are played before the game concludes. Median first play lands on turn 3.0, with a strong cluster in turns 1 and 2, consistent with Ancient Tomb being fetched or kept in opening hands to power out early threats. 89% stickiness confirms that once it hits the table, opponents rarely bother to remove a land.

The commander distribution is spread across 204 unique players, with no single contributor exceeding 5% of tracked instances. That spread gives the dataset reasonable breadth for a card at this inclusion rate. Ancient Tomb is legal in Commander and is banned in Duel Commander, where the accelerated mana it provides is considered too warping in a 20-life, 1-versus-1 context.

At a glance

7% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks include Ancient Tomb
T3.0 median turn Ancient Tomb first enters the battlefield
79% of drawn copies are played before the game ends
89% battlefield stickiness once Ancient Tomb resolves
204 unique players have brought Ancient Tomb to a tracked game
583 total instances brought to tracked games

First-cast turn

n=114

19%

24%

12%

10%

11%

20%

T6-9

T10+

Median 3.0 P25 2 · P75 5 · max 13

Cast same turn as drawn 50%

The "good card" funnel

583 brought · 204 players

Brought to game

583

Ever drawn

144

Reached battlefield

114

Still on board at game end

101

79%

Of 583 Ancient Tombs brought to tracked games, 144 were drawn, 114 of those were played, and nearly nine in ten of those copies remained on the battlefield at game's end.

≥ -6.2pp

Players who cast this card win 27% of the time (n=114) , vs 26% when it never left the library (n=406).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 32% (n=28) — about the same as leaving it in the library. Those players survived long enough to draw it, so the gap above is about the card resolving, not just about surviving.

Observed gap +1.9pp; 95% confidence interval -6.2pp to +9.9pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

162 instances

2.5%

Library

62.3%

Battlefield

14.8%

Graveyard

8.6%

Exile

The vast majority of Ancient Tombs end the game on the battlefield rather than in the library, reflecting how often it appears in opening hands and how rarely opponents remove lands.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 The Ur-Dragon 8 decks
2 Kenrith, the Returned King 7 decks
3 Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy 5 decks
4 K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth 5 decks
5 Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness 4 decks
6 Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit 4 decks
7 Krenko, Mob Boss 4 decks
8 Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh 4 decks
9 Zhulodok, Void Gorger 4 decks
10 Betor, Ancestor's Voice 3 decks

The commander list spans all five colors and multiple archetypes, confirming that Ancient Tomb's colorless identity makes it a cross-archetype include rather than a staple of any single strategy.

Frequently Asked

How often is Ancient Tomb drawn in a Commander game?

Across 414 tracked multiplayer games where Ancient Tomb was in the deck, it was drawn 25% of the time. That rate is typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 144 instances that reached a player's hand, 79% were played before the game ended.

What turn does Ancient Tomb usually hit the battlefield?

Median first-play turn is 3.0. The distribution has a notable early cluster: many copies come down on turns 1 and 2, consistent with opening-hand keeps designed to accelerate into a powerful play. The same-turn play rate is 50%, meaning roughly half of all drawn copies are played the same turn they are drawn.

Is Ancient Tomb banned anywhere relevant to Commander players?

Ancient Tomb is banned in Duel Commander, the 1-versus-1 variant played at 20 life. In that format, the combination of halved starting life and free two-mana acceleration is considered too warping. It is fully legal and unrestricted in regular multiplayer Commander, as well as Legacy, Vintage, and Timeless.

Does casting Ancient Tomb actually improve your win rate?

The data here is directional rather than conclusive. In 114 participations where Ancient Tomb reached the battlefield, the normalized win rate was 27%, compared to 26% across 406 participations where it stayed in the library. The gap is modest and the confidence interval spans zero on this sample size, so treat it as an early signal rather than a proven effect.

Why does Ancient Tomb see play across so many different commander decks?

Ancient Tomb has no color identity, so it slots into any Commander deck regardless of color. The two colorless mana it produces on turn 1 is among the most efficient mana acceleration available in the format, comparable to Sol Ring. The 2-life payment is a real cost in longer games, which is why it appears more often in combo and high-power strategies that win quickly rather than in grindy or life-gain-dependent builds.

How concentrated is the Ancient Tomb data among players?

The multiplayer dataset spans 204 unique players who have brought Ancient Tomb to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for 5% of all instances. That spread is healthy for a card at this inclusion rate and reduces the risk that the numbers are distorted by one or two prolific players.